Back to (Para)normal
by xxXTheySayI'mEvilXxx
Summary: Who knew one innocent question could lead to one major reveal?
1. Chapter 1

**Spoilers for Hands of Time, set after episode 10.**

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"Fusion Dragon?" Jay cried excitedly. "That's cool!" Zane nodded his head in agreement, and Lloyd was practically bouncing up and down.

Cole barely glanced around as he used his Earth Punch to destroy more Vermillion eggs.

"Cole, are you okay?" Jay asked worriedly.

Cole hit his breaking point. "No Jay, I'm _not_ okay. I don't even know what okay is anymore. Ever since I passed through the rift, I thought it was great to be human again, but I still can barely feel anything. Not the heat, not the cold, not these stupid Vermillion warrior eggs." He disposed of another giant egg, taking his anger out the the snakes.

The others glanced at each other with worry. How would this end?

* * *

"Cole...?" Jay knocked. They had come back to the Bounty and tried to figure out a plan to rescue Sensei Wu.

"Jay, you can... come in, I guess, if you want..." the voice sounded broken and it constantly cracked. Jay opened the door to see Cole hastily wiping away a tear. Jay knew the Master of Earth didn't like other people seeing him let out his emotions, even just to Jay. So he spoke no words about the crying session that he knew happened.

"You really wanna be a ghost again?"

"...ye-es...? Maybe? I guess? Oh, I don't really know. Sometimes I like being human and all, but sometimes I want to be a ghost since they can do stuff humans can't."

"Like walking through walls?" Jay teased.

Cole blushed furiously. After Day of the Departed, Cole kept ramming into walls, got a few bruises, forgetting that he couldn't walk through walls. He looked like Zane when the android glitched. "Stop it. I couldn't help it. But yeah, I do miss that, and disappearing." Jay's eyes widened. "I mean not fading disappear, but just turning invisible," Cole added quickly.

Jay breathed a sigh of relief, then hugged his best friend. "I like you better as human, 'cuz I can hug you now," he muttered, breathing in the Earth Ninja's candy-sweet and earthly mixed scent. The one that wasn't there awhile ago.

"Yeah, I guess it's nice..." Cole trailed off, hiding his head in Jay's shoulders. Surprisingly, he started crying.

"Hey, it's okay. It's okay..." Jay rubbed Cole's back and hugged him tightly.

"Please d-don't let go," Cole whimpered.

Jay wouldn't let go. Not for the others. Not for Nya. Not for the world. Cole needed him at the moment, and he was right there to help. He wouldn't leave for all of Ninjago.

And so he stayed.

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Sweet little Drabble, 'cuz who doesn't like them? My first fanfic, just testing the water here.


	2. Chapter 2

**So, I have had a couple people ask if I should continue my oneshot, and so I guess here's another chapter, but I'm working on another story I will post probably on Monday. This chapter is in Jay's POV. Enjoy!**

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"J-jay?" Cole asked quietly. I pulled back, placing another bright smile on my face. I was a master at those.

"Yeah, boulderbrain?" I replied, trying to keep the mood light. He pouted a bit at the nickname, so I didn't press it any further. "Okay, I'll stop. Yes?"

"I..." he breathed, trying to find his words. "It's just been really hard reverting back into solid again. Thank you. I know it's been awhile since it happened, but I keep forgetting some things." He met my eyes, and suddenly started hugging me again.

"I can't turn invisible in awkward situations anymore, I can't phase through things, and I've been trying to lose weight because I'm not weightless anymore. And then, I'm... I'm really scared to feel pain again. I haven't yet, and if I break my arm or something..." he cried again. "It's just so much, feeling again. And everything is just overload. I've been trying to ignore it, but it's just too much!"

"Cole, we all have insecurities sometimes. Especially me," I chuckled a bit. "You know, I'm pretty scared of the dark, right? I have a nightlight and a teddy bear still. It's much more embarrassing then what your going through. Cole, you shouldn't be hiding all your emotions like this. We've all know each other for years now, and it basically made us all flip out when you just appeared with a smile on your face like the world was perfect. We would've at least thought you missed being a ghost the tiniest bit."

"I'm terrible at showing my feelings. I'm a complete mess whenever I do," Cole cried back, squeezing me so tight I thought my ribs would crack. But I was used to it.

"Cole, we all have ways to show feelings. I'm pretty emotional or chalk it up with jokes, Lloyd gets really sad and depends on us, Zane, well he just puts on a sad face and starts doing tech stuff, Nya and Kai take their anger out on dummies and sometimes people, but you just bottle it up. Then you let the bottle crack when you're alone. It's not healthy, Cole. You can't just pretend you're fine all the time. It's like when you were the leader when we were younger. You'd press yourself over the edge and frequently pull all-nighters to try and use better battle strategies."

"And now I'm basically the nothing. Just the guy who can't handle turning into his old form," Cole interrupted bitterly. I shook my head, forcing a smile.

"You always have to ruin moments, don't you?" I asked playfully.

Cole scowled. "That's what I do now? I'm so mean. You can go, Jay. Go be with Nya, she'll probably be wondering where you are."

I stood up, staring at him. "Don't you dare push me away, Cole. You and I both know the second I leave, who knows what you'll be doing. My best friend will always come before my girlfriend if he's like _this. You will not push me away._ Got it?" Cole looked a little scared at how I was acting, but I really didn't care. "You are hurting, Cole. I don't care how cheesy it sounds. I will not let you go until you are feeling okay enough that you won't do anything stupid. Understand? Because you need to tell everyone you're feeling this way. We can help Cole, don't act like we can't. Don't act like you're all alone and there's no one to help you, because we are here, and we know you. Kai, Zane, Nya, Lloyd, you, and me, we're a family. We know you, and we won't judge you, okay? Because no matter what, ghost or not, you're human. And humans have insecurities, that have feelings, they have fears, and they need someone to cling onto no matter how strong they are. So don't push us away."

* * *

Soon enough, we were both out of Cole's room and down the hall to the others. Cole trembled nervously, trying to wipe his eyes and look normal, but I stopped him every time. The others looked at us as we approached. "Her guys, Cole has something he wants to tell all of you."

Cole looked up, and took a short breath. I rubbed his back comfortingly. "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, I just wanted to say..." he breathed again and plunged straightforward. "I've been afraid since the rift. Being human again and everything, it just frightens me to feel again. And I've been trying to bottle it up. I know it's not really a good time to say this, with Sensei missing and all, but..."

He was then cut off with Kai embracing him in a hug. I smiled slightly.

"C'mon, you know we love you all the same, dirtclod. It's not fun to bottle up emotions, I know. But it's okay, I would do the same thing if I were you."

Zane joined in the hug, as did I. Lloyd and Nya gave a "what the heck" look as they finished the circle. As we all pulled away, Cole smiled, truly, for what seemed the first time in forever. "Thanks guys."

"No problem," I replied, then zapping him lightly. "Just never hide away from us again."

"JAY WALKER-GORDON, YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT!" I laughed and ran, as an angry Cole chased me. I laughed even harder when he caught me and started tickling me.

It's good to have your best friend back.

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 **Aaaannnndddd, we is done! That's all for this fanfic, but as I said before, I will have one coming out later. Plus, I'm open for requests. Just two rules, no really in-depth shipping stuff (you know what I mean) and I do not curse. That's all. Tootles!**


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